[rescue] Backups

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Mon, 20 Jun 2005 @ 12:42 -0400, Nadine said:

> Well, when you are trying to backup your game CD ROMs, you learn which
> sites are good pretty quick or you end up with a lot of coasters.
> I've gone back to cdfreaks.com most often.  YMMV As well as the two
> Nate mentioned, cdrinfo and cdrlabs.

Those are ones I looked at, and one of them might be the one with the
extensive tests.

> Knowing the details of the drives is important, but the quality of
> the media varies pretty dramatically as well.  It's probably the most
> important factor to longevity of optical media, outside of proper
> storage (e.g. reasonable temps and no UV exposure).

Media quality has different levels too.  Some media will last a very
long time, but is hard to write to.  Other media is an easy write, but
won't last long.  Ideally of course you find media that is easy to write
to and also lasts a long time.

Longevity seems to be related to two things: how long the dye layer
stays intact, and how strong the signal is when reading.

It has been said that DVD media is more resilient, but only time will
tell.

Recently some Japanese media manufacturers have gotten out of the
business, and when the fabs moved to India and other places, the media
quality went down.

TDK is one of them.  They are now made in India, and from what I have
seen the platters warp at speed, aren't round, and sometimes the dye
layers and mirror seem to be a little off.  I don't know if this is just
growing pains, or something we can expect to continue.  So far I have
had to throw away three stacks of media made in India, including some
CD media.  One of them wobbleed so much my whole computer shook when
reading the CD. 

TDK media from Taiwan seems to be OK.  

I still have good luck with Sony media, but rumor has it that Sony is
getting out of the CD/DVD media and drive game.  That was on one of the
sites like cdfreaks... can't remember which one.

Taiyo Yuden still make their media in Japan, and it is still reportedly
a consitently good buy.  Not sure if they made DVD media though.

Some media distribution companies will sell you sample packs of various
media.  Otherwise buy 3-5 different kinds and test.  

> My Dual Layer DVD writer is a Lite-On.  My last CD writer
> was a Sony; in retrospect, I wish I had purchased a Lite-On.

Lite-On used to make some of the best CD burners, but the review sites
gave them pretty bad reviews on DVD burners.  For at least a little
while they were using a flawed burner chipset.

Some people don't report problems though.  Have you had good luck with
yours?

One thing to remember with CDs and DVDs is that a lot of problems can be
solved with both official and unofficial firmware updates.

Kind of a hokey industry... you'd like to think they made it all work
before shipping...

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- [governorrhea: a contagious disease that
spreads from the governor of a state downward through other offices and his
corporate sponsors]